For those Maple Leafs fans who lustily jeered P.K. Subban on Saturday night — not to mention every other time he has stepped on to the Air Canada Centre ice wearing the rival bleu blanc et rouge colours — the kid from Rexdale has some food for thought for you.

Truth be told, Pernell Karl Subban probably ranks just behind Daniel Alfredsson as your most despised opponent, with the gap closing as Alfredsson closes in on retirement. Subban knows it, too. As a boy who grew up watching Alfie razzed on each visit to Toronto during those famed Battle of Ontario clashes against the Ottawa Senators, Subban now understands first-hand what it feels to feel the wrath of Leafs Nation.

But here’s the thing: Keeping all that in mind, Subban wants to know what your reaction would be if he one day found himself wearing blue and white.

“Yes, I know,” Subban chuckled Saturday when asked by the Sun if he was aware he is becoming ‘the new Alfie’ in these parts. “But here’s my thing. You always have to put it the other way. If I ever ended up playing in Toronto at some point in my career, what would it be like then? Would they still boo me? I don’t know if they would or not.

“I mean, to me, (being booed) is a compliment. For me, as a player who prides himself on trying to have an impact on my hockey team and having an impact in every game that I play, they’re taking that into account. And being a guy from Toronto, and playing for the Montreal Canadiens, it’s a natural reaction for them.”

Subban’s parents still live in Rexdale. He himself has a condo in downtown Toronto. And in the summer when he’s back in town, people here recognize him. In a puck-crazed city such as Toronto, you would expect nothing less.

In those instances, he said the locals are relatively polite. Relatively speaking, of course.

“Are people rude to me? Not really,” Subban said. “There are times when I’m in Toronto in the summer and walk into a restaurant, I’ll hear people start going: ‘Go Leafs Go,’ that type of thing. And I find that funny.

“They’re passionate fans. Passionate fans are everywhere in Toronto and Montreal. They’re always fun to be around. And I have the privilege of being able to interact with them. I think it’s pretty cool.”

You know what else is cool? P.K. Subban spent some of his childhood days decked out in a Leafs jersey. Honest.

“My sister had a Doug Gilmour jersey and I would wear it sometimes,” Subban admitted. “Growing up in Toronto, I became a Habs fan because my dad (Karl) was a huge Habs fan. But growing up in Toronto, you always have a special place in your heart for your hometown team.”

It just so happens that, as we are standing outside the Habs dressing room Saturday, the sister in question, Natasha, is standing just a slapshot away, waiting for P.K. along with several other family members.

“Yeah, I remember him wearing it,” Natasha said. “It was a No. 93. I remember getting it at Westwood Arena.”

Is the jersey still kicking around? What about photos of young P.K., decked out in Gilmour colours? How would that pic look splattered all over the home page of his recently opened website, pksubban.com?

“There are probably photos of it,” he chuckled. “And I think that jersey probably is still around somewhere in my basement.

“Mats Sundin. Doug Gilmour. Cujo. Felix Potvin. I was a fan of all those players. That’s why it’s pretty special to play in these types of games. I mean, it’s Canadiens versus Leafs.”

With P.K. playing the role of villain whenever he takes the ice in his home town.

“Actually he pretty much gets booed in most arenas we play in,” Canadiens teammate Brendan Gallagher said. “He feeds on it, too. He uses it as motivation.”

According to Gallagher, what you see from Subban on the ice is what you get behind closed doors in the dressing room.

“He’s always saying something, cracking jokes, things like that.”

Of course, there was the incident earlier this season when the Habs had a “Bad Suits Day” in which players were asked to wear ugly duds. Even under these bizarre circumstances, Subban ended up being the centre of conversation.

“That’s because what he wore couldn’t be considered a suit,” Gallagher said. “It was more like pajamas.”

If Subban is the source of so many yuks among his teammates, why does he raise the ire of Toronto hockey fans so easily?

For a start, consider the events of Jan. 18 that took place at the Air Canada Centre.

On that particular night, the bitterness oozed over in the Leafs’ 5-3 victory over the Habs. And, the spotlight, to no one’s surprise, was on Subban.

After enraging the Ottawa Senators earlier that week with a jersey-tugging goal celebration — a move that Don Cherry called “absolutely ridiculous” — the defending Norris Trophy winner then irked the Leafs by taunting their bench after scoring a first-period goal.

Two periods later, James van Riemsdyk responded by mocking Subban’s theatrics after the Leafs left winger scored the game-winner with about five minutes left in the third period.

When it comes to Subban’s so-called theatrics, he has received no shortage of criticism in his young career.

“Hey, I don’t view celebrations as hot-dogging or showboating,” he said “I view it as expressing emotions. You look at other sports. All athletes do it.

“I don’t think I’m the only guy in the NHL that does it. I know you have to respect your opponent but when big goals are scored in big moments, it’s hard to control yourself sometimes.”

Fair enough. But what about his claim after being drafted by the Canadiens in 2007 that, after he one day led the Habs to a Stanley Cup, he would take hockey’s Holy Grail back to Rexdale and parade it in front of Leafs fans?

Know this Toronto: P.K. Subban has backed off that statement.

“This is my hometown,” he said. “When I first started out my career, I was swinging around a number of different things. I probably won’t be swinging those things around now that I’ve been in the league for a while and have learned a few things.

“I definitely might have something — something small for family and friends — if we win the Cup. But I’m thinking way, way, way too far ahead.”

Leafs Nation would agree.

When they aren’t busy booing him, that is.

P.K. COUNTING HIS BLESSINGS

There was no complaining, no antics, no showboating, no whining about being a healthy scratch.

All the concerns the P.K. Subban-bashers had when the Habs defenceman was picked for the Canadian Olympic team proved to be non-issues in Sochi.

In the end, Subban should have been there. Why wouldn’t you want the defending Norris Trophy winner on your team?

“For me, I always focus on things that I can control,” Subban said. “I can’t control things like lineups, especially in that situaion.

“All you can do is try to represent your team and your country the right way, and try to be a model citizen. As a Canadian citizen, it’s your duty to represent and honour your team, your family and your country the right way. I tried to look at the value of doing that. And, in the end, everything about the Olympics was a positive experience.

“I would have liked to opportunity on that stage to play more, sure. But at the end of the day, it’s still positive and I got to walk away with a gold medal. At the age of 24, to be able to say you’ve won a gold medal, a Norris Trophy and you’re among the best players in the league — well, someone told me in the past four years I’ve generated more offence and collected more points than any other defenceman in the league — those are all positives I take away.”

As for the perception in some circles that he might be a disruptive force, Subban said those rumours aren’t coming out of Montreal, a place he loves to live and play.

“I have zero problems with the media in Montreal, zero problems with the fans in Montreal,” he said. “I can leave my house in Montreal every morning. I know guys who played in Montreal who didn’t like to leave their house, who didn’t like to go out to restaurants there. I do that regularly. I have never had any issues with fans, media, anyone in Montreal. They’ve treated me better than I expected to be treated in the first place.”

STAYING POWER

With his contract up for renewal this summer, P.K. Subban is in for a big payday.

And, given his druthers, he hopes it comes out of the wallets of the Canadiens owners rather than any other of the league’s 29 teams.

“I’ll tell you this right now: My goal coming into the NHL was to help the Montreal Canadiens win a Stanley CUp. It still is,” Subban told the Sun on Saturday.

“If I’m not a Montreal Canadien, it won’t be because I don’t want to be there. I have every intention of being there, playing my entire career there.

“If it doesn’t happen, it’s because it’s a business and not because I don’t want to be there.”

Subban is expected to be looking for a long-term deal at $8-million plus per season, which is understandable when you are the defending Norris Trophy winner as the league’s top defenceman.

Canadiens defencemen P.K. Subban the new Alfie for Leafs fans

For those Maple Leafs fans who lustily jeered P.K. Subban on Saturday night — not to mention every other time he has stepped on to the Air Canada Centre ice wearing the rival bleu blanc et rouge colours — the kid from Rexdale has some food for thought for you.

Truth be told, Pernell Karl Subban probably ranks just behind Daniel Alfredsson as your most despised opponent, with the gap closing as Alfredsson closes in on retirement. Subban knows it, too. As a boy who grew up watching Alfie razzed on each visit to Toronto during those famed Battle of Ontario clashes against the Ottawa Senators, Subban now understands first-hand what it feels to feel the wrath of Leafs Nation.

But here’s the thing: Keeping all that in mind, Subban wants to know what your reaction would be if he one day found himself wearing blue and white.